Turkish Journal of Sport and Exercise
http://selcukbesyod.selcuk.edu.tr/sumbtd/index
Year: 2014 - Volume: 16 - Issue: 3 - Pages: 17-19
DOI: 10.15314/TJSE.201439608
ISSN: 2147-5652
Study of physical characteristics of Indian handball
players at different level of competition
Vishaw GAURAV1, Amandeep SINGH2
Department of Education, Government of Punjab, India.
Department of Physical Education (T), Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, India.
Address Correspondence to Amandeep Singh, [email protected]
1
2
Abstract
The purpose of the study was to compare the physical characteristics between Indian male handball players at different level
of competition. The present study was conducted on a sample of forty eight(N=48), which includes twenty four each, male
inter-school level (N1=24, mean ± SD: age 18.12 ± 0.80 years, height 176.83 ± 5.83cm, weight 69.04 ± 6.99 kg, BMI 22.07 ± 1.89)
andinter-college level (N2=24, mean ± SD: age 20.54 ± 0.93 years, height 181.29 ± 3.44cm, weight 74.04 ± 3.89 kg, BMI 22.53 ±
1.30) handball players who participated in inter-school competitions of the schools affiliated to Punjab School Education
Board and inter-college competitionsof Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab, India respectively. All the participants
were informed about the aim and methodology of the study and they volunteered to participate in this study. All the
participants were assessed for height, weight and selected physical characteristics. The height of the subjects was measured
with anthropometric rod to the nearest 0.5 cm. The weight of subjects was measured by using portable weighing machine to
the nearest 0.5 kg. The vertical jump test was used to measure explosive power of the legs whereas speed was determined by
30 meters dash. Illinois agility test was used to measure agility and medicine ball put testwas used to determine the shoulder
girdle strength. The independent samples t-test was applied to assess the differences between inter-school and inter-college
level handball players.The level of significance was set at 0.05.The results of present study clearly indicated that inter-college
level handball players had significantly greater power (p<0.05), speed (p<0.05), strength (p<0.05) and agility (p<0.05) than
inter-school level male handball players. The inter-college level male handball players were also found taller and heavier as
compared to inter-school level players.
Keywords: Physical characteristics, handball, power, speed, strength, agility.
INTRODUCTION
Team handball is a complex intermittent game,
which requires players to have well developed
aerobic and anaerobic capacities (1). Successful
performance requires explosive power of the legs
and arms, sprint velocity and kinesthetic feeling in
ball control (8). Team handball originated in the
Berlin Physical Education School in 1919 with
Professor Carl Schelenz, and became an official
Olympic Sport in 1972. Since its beginning team
handball has developed into a very popular game in
European countries, and is slowly becoming a
recognized sport worldwide (9). Handball players
requires various technical skills (e.g. shooting,
passing and throwing) and physical characteristics
(e.g. jumping ability, power, speed and agility) at
different level of competition. Previous research has
indicated that certain physical characteristics are
related to high-level handball performance (3,7,14).
During the game, tasks such as pushing and
blocking require high power and strength levels in
the limbs and trunk regions (3,6,13). Stronger
players with higher body mass have an advantage in
handball because the need of the game, such as
throwing the ball with power and speed, are met
through jumping and physical contact with the
opponent (3). Though literature related to physical
characteristics of handball players are available,
information in Indian context is scanty. To fulfill the
lack of literature, the present study was planned.
Therefore, the purpose of this study was to compare
thephysical characteristics of Indian handball
players at different level of competition (i.e. interschool level and inter-college level).
MATERIAL & METHOD
A sample of 48 subjects, which includes 24
each, inter-school level (N1=24, mean ± SD: age 18.12
± 0.80 years, height 176.83 ± 5.83 cm, weight 69.04 ±
Gaurav and Singh 2014
6.99 kg, BMI 22.07 ± 1.89) andinter-college level
(N2=24, mean ± SD: age 20.54 ± 0.93 years, height
181.29 ± 3.44 cm, weight 74.04 ± 3.89 kg, BMI 22.53 ±
1.30) male handball players, was selected for the
present study. The purposive sampling technique
was used to select the subjects. The inter- school
level subjects were selectedfrom different schools
affiliated to Punjab School Education Board and
inter-college level subjects were selected from
different colleges affiliated to Guru Nanak Dev
University, Amritsar, Punjab, INDIA.
Height measurements were taken by using the
standard anthropometric rod to the nearest 0.5 cm.
Full attention was given to make sure that players’
body was fully upright and their mandible was
parallel to the ground. Taken values recorded in
‘cm’. The subject’s weight was measured with
portable weighing machine to the nearest 0.5 kg.
During measurements players were on bare feet and
wearing underwear only. Measurements recorded in
‘kg’. BMI was calculated by the formula of; Body
Mass Index = Weight/Height2.The vertical jump test
was used to measure explosive power of the legs
whereas speed was determined by 30 meters dash.
Illinois agility test (2) was used to measure agility
and medicine ball put test was used to determine the
shoulder girdle strength.
Statistical analyses
Data was analyzed using SPSS Version 16.0
(Statistical Package for the Social Sciences, version
16.0, SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA). Mean values (±SD)
of Demographic characteristics of inter-school level
and inter-college level male handball players are
presented. Independent samples t-test was used to
test if population means estimated by two
independent samples differed significantly.
RESULTS
Table 1 shows the demographic characteristics
of inter-school level and inter-college level male
handball players. The mean age of inter-school level
players was 18.12years and inter-college level
players were 20.54years. The mean height of interschool level players was 176.83cm and inter-college
level players were 181.29cm. The mean weight of
inter-school level players was 69.04kg and intercollege level players were 74.04kg. The mean BMI
value of inter-school level players was 22.07and
inter-college level players were 22.53.
Table-2 presents the physical characteristics of
inter-school level and inter-college level male
handball players. The inter-college level players
were found to have significantly better power
(p<0.05) when compared to inter-school level
players. The inter-college level players also had
significantly better speed (p<0.05) and strength
(p<0.05) than inter-school level players. Similarly,
agility (p<0.05) was significantly greater in intercollege level players as compared to inter-school
level players.
Table 1.Demographic characteristics of inter-school level (N=24) and inter-college level (N=24) male handball players.
Sports Group
Age (yrs)
Mean
SD
Height (cm)
Mean
SD
Weight (Kg)
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Inter-School Players
Inter-College Players
18.12
20.54
176.83
181.29
69.04
74.04
22.07
22.53
1.89
1.30
0.80
0.93
5.83
3.44
BMI
6.99
3.89
Table 2. Physical characteristics of inter-school level (N=24) and inter-college level (N=24) male handball players.
Inter-School Players
Inter-College Players
Mean
Variables
(N1 = 24)
(N2 = 24)
SEDM
t
Difference
Mean
SD
Mean
SD
Power (cm)
Speed (sec)
Strength (m)
Agility (sec)
42.37
5.41
7.62
19.78
4.35
0.38
0.14
0.84
47.25
4.97
8.01
16.91
*Significant at 0.05 level
DISCUSSION
In the present study physical characteristics of
inter-school level and inter-college level male
handball players have been evaluated and compared
with each other. This study indicates the existence of
Turk J Sport Exe 2014; 16(3): 17–19
© 2014 Department of Physical Education and Sport, Selcuk University
5.37
0.84
0.44
0.86
4.88
0.44
0.39
2.87
1.41
0.19
0.09
0.24
3.456*
2.316*
4.145*
11.683*
p
0.001
0.025
0.000
0.000
t.05 (46) =1.671
physical characteristics differences between interschool level and inter-college level male handball
players. The demographic characteristics of interschool level and inter-college level male handball
players showed that inter-college level players were
taller and heavier as compared to inter-school level
18
Gaurav and Singh 2014
players.A large height and lean body mass are
beneficial for performance in
handball players
(3).In the present study, the mean height and weight
in inter-college handball players (181.29 ± 3.44 cm
and 74.04±3.89 kg respectively) were lesser than in
male Serbian U-20 hand ball players (190.70±5.23
cm and 88.44±8.98 kg respectively) reported by Ilic
et al. (5), players of China(190.0±7.4 cm, and
85.4±10.0 kg, respectively) and Japan (185.4±6.7 cm
and 80.6±3.9 kg, respectively) reported by Hassan et
al.(4).The demographic characteristics of players
showed that the Indian inter-school level handball
players had significantly higher values of body
height (176.83±5.83 cm) compared to English
(174.2±5.4 cm) handball players studied by Hassan
et al. (4). It was reported that body height and body
mass were important for the performance
enhancement of athletes and were considered as
basic criterion for their selection in various playing
positions in handball game(10,12).The results of
present study clearly indicated that inter-college
level handball players had significantly greater
power, speed, strength and agility than inter-school
level handball players.These differences are
probably due to the effects of regular physical
exercise and vigorous training program in intercollege handball players.These results of present
study are supported by Stijn et al.(11).They observed
significantly greater power characteristics, i.e.
counter-movement jump height, handgrip strength,
sprint running speed and aerobic capacity in elite
adolescent handball players in comparison with the
non-elite players (10). Considering the inter-college
players showed better physical characteristics, on
average, the inter-college level male handball
players were taller and heavier than inter-school
level players. The inter-college level male handball
players also had higher power, speed, strength and
agility when compared to inter-school level male
handball players. It is concluded that various
physical characteristics has clear impact on the
performance of the handball players at different
level of competition. This study indicate the need for
further research regarding playing position-byplaying position analysis of physical characteristics
of handball players including correlations with
players’ performance.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Sincere thanks to physical education teachers &
coaches who extended their enthusiastic cooperation in collecting the necessary data and to all
those inter-school level and inter-college level male
handball players without whom this research was
Turk J Sport Exe 2014; 16(3): 17–19
© 2014 Department of Physical Education and Sport, Selcuk University
not possible. We acknowledge the immense help
received from the scholars whose articles are cited
and included in references of this paper. We are also
grateful to authors/editors/publishers of all those
articles, journals and books from where the
literature for this paper has been reviewed and
discussed.
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